Examining green space characteristics for social cohesion and mental health outcomes: A sensitivity analysis in four European cities

Introduction: In recent decades, there has been a rise in mental illnesses. Community infrastructures are increasingly acknowledged as important for sustaining good mental health. Moreover, green spaces are anticipated to offer advantages for both mental health and social cohesion. However, the mediating pathway between green space, social...

Densification for Social Integration: A study on the potential symbiosis between densification and social integration, social mix and social cohesion in post-war neighbourhoods with Den Haag Zuidwest as a case study

This project investigates the potential for social integration, social mix, and social cohesion by densification in post-war neighbourhoods with Den Haag Zuidwest as a case study location. The current status of housing and public spaces in post-war neighbourhoods results in challenges regarding social segregation and social dissolution that are...

Left Alone: Spatial and programmatic interventions countering urban loneliness in Linkeroever

People are feeling more and more lonely, especially in cities. This has negative effects on mental and physical well-being as well as on the economy. Feeling lonely is not just caused by internal factors like genetics and social skills, as many people think. The environment we live in contributes 52% to the feeling of loneliness. This...

Rhythms to encounter: Shaping social infrastructure to encourage synergies between working and living

Social infrastructure is crucial in repairing the fractured societies of today. Fragmentation of lifestyles has resulted in limited social networks between people from different backgrounds. A robust social infrastructure is critical to provide social connections and prevent friction between social groups, especially in multicultural settings....

Supporting public life through architecture: The parallel histories of Spaarndammerhart’s and Het Schip’s contribution to public life

The literature about public life is mainly focused on the city as a whole. This research applies the literature about public life to architecture by analyzing two case studies. The design elements of two building in The Spaarndammerbuurt neighborhood in Amsterdam, Het Schip (1921) and The Spaarndammerhart (2020) are related to the literature...

Healing by transforming: Creating the empowered healing environment

According to the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), there will be more focus on tackling the unhealthy effects of urbanization in the near future. This together with the presence of a large stock of vacant buildings and other developments within these urban areas and the challenges which are formed by the developments in...

Building balance to build resilience: An empirical study on the neighbourhood balance policy of Rotterdam's resilience strategy

The rise in urban stresses has prompted the need for preparedness of urban areas to face precarious circumstances. Consequently, the concept of urban resilience has grown in popularity not only to tackle sudden shocks but also to face long-lasting socio-economic tensions. To implement the arrangements for resilience policy, literature suggests...

Participation at your doorstep: Stimulating social cohesion and building new relations between Rotterdammers and the municipality

Citizens experience a growing gap between their lived world and that of governmental institutions. The historical low turnup rate of last municipal elections in Rotterdam, 39%, reflect the low trust people have in the municipality and how they feel unrepresented by the city council. Because of this, municipalities are striving to bring politics...

A Caring Place

Globally, societies are seeing a long-term rise in the older adult population; by 2050 one in every four persons will be 60 years old or older. For the first time in human history, there will be more senior people than children in the population (WHO, 2018). In the Netherlands, the grey pressure was 34% in 2021. According to population...

We need to talk about the mall: Interventions in the public space

This book explores how to reinvent, reposition, and refunction the public space in and around the suburban mall of Schiedam Hof van Spaland. It contains of two parts: first it explores the problems related to the mall, and how these problems influence the community. Second, the project explores through different design scales how these problems...

Urban living labs during COVID-19: Exploring the relationship between social cohesion and urban living labs

Climate change is and will have a severe impact on urban areas. Dutch cities are actively searching ways for successful climate adaptation. One way to do this is by experimenting with sustainable innovations in urban living labs (ULLs). This is a place where different urban actors, such as governments, businesses, knowledge institutes and...

Mind the Gap: Improving social cohesion through Architecture

Social cohesion has been an essential part of the political agenda and policymakers for the past twenty years. Due to, among other things,<br/>modernisation, globalisation and individualisation of society, mutual ties are diminishing (Schiefer and van der Noll, 2016). This thesis aims to map the aspects that influence social cohesion and...

Encounter of Unknown: Indeterminate Public Space

What are the preconditions for aleatory occurrence of social interaction? Can unexpected public activities be catalyzed by specific spatial characteristic? The objective of the thesis is to explore the flexibility, mobility and adaptiveness in architecture and urban domain through the research of “Public Condenser” within multiplicity and...

Watch it! Resident on the lookout: Design of a support service for neighborhood WhatsApp groups to improve safety

In the coalition agreement (May 2018) the municipality of The Hague has expressed that they want to support neighborhood WhatsApp groups (NWAG’s). The goal of providing support is to increase citizen participation and to improve neighborhood safety and safety feeling. Currently, there is no city-wide approach for supporting NWAG’s. So, the...

Play with your hood: Creating mobile game challenges to foster social interactions in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods

Ethnically diverse neighbourhoods often lack in social cohesion. This means that people of different ethnic backgrounds often do not mingle with people outside their cultural circle, which leads into a poor public social experience. PhD student Francisco Xavier Fonseca has been developing a localized mobile game aimed at teenagers called Secrets...

A co-creative development tool kit for social cohesion

The Dutch government has decentralised many welfare state tasks to municipalities, because social support is best given at a local level, close to the people who need the support (Rijksoverheid, n.d.). However, for Dutch municipalities this means more responsibilities with less resources and consequently a different, more collaborative way of...

Design for social cohesion: Design to reduce polarization - A design intervention to increase social cohesion

This country will be hugely polarized by 2050, if we do not act. The focus of the public debate is shifting towards differences between groups and people. Politicians exploit popular sentiment for their own success, they polarize in an attempt to give every group a voice. If we keep repeating and emphasizing our differences, it becomes a self...